Neck Dents

[PWRL]

Dents do not bother me.

 

[Chrisk-K]

I don't like them at all. I wouldn't buy a bass with a neck dent that I can easily feel.

 

[cnltb]

Neck dents would bother me quite a bit. So far I have none in any of my basses.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

Hey guys

A question about nicks and dents on the back of the neck.
How much do they bother you? Would it stop you buying a used bass if there's a nick you'll feel with your thumb every time you play?
Does your bass have any? Does it bother you much or do you just get on with it?

Just curious...

Quick answer.............YES!

Own about 60 instruments, about 15 basses. 1950's to the mid 90's.

While almost all are original, a few of them look like the Relic worker got waaaaay carried away.

One common denominator, because I bought them.....ABSOLUTELY NO DENTS OR SCRATCHES ON THE BACK OF THE NECKS!

I do like Oddly's take on it though!

 

[Ewo]

Dents in the back of the neck tend to bother me a little, yeah. But if I like the bass well enough otherwise, I just come to ignore them.

 

[2saddleslab]

Surprisingly, with 65 years of natural wear, my 11-55' neck only has one tiny dent mid neck. I've had other basses with more but I never feel them and don't bother me one bit.

 

[Saulful]

I've one dent on the back of my neck, which happily serves as a marker for me, helping me avoid looking to check my position.
I'm now so used to using that, that if I got another bass, one of the first things I'd do would be to add one!

It'll have to be out on your signature model

 

[micguy]

I am, to the best of my knowledge, dentless in my herd - at least neck wise. I'm not really sure if I had any if they'd bother me.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Do my best to avoid them but there are one or two casualties. None give me any strife. I think I'd want to fix any that did.

 

[Engle]

Lots of my basses necks have nicks and dents they don't bother me in the least.

^What Scott said. It just means they have been played.

 

[BOOG]

Hey guys

A question about nicks and dents on the back of the neck.
How much do they bother you? Would it stop you buying a used bass if there's a nick you'll feel with your thumb every time you play?
Does your bass have any? Does it bother you much or do you just get on with it?

Just curious...

Doesn’t bother me in the least bit. I use it as reference a point
My first bass (bought used) has two very minor scuffs from previous owner(s). One is a shallow ding by the skunk stripe at the fourth fret and I literally use it as a reference point on that end of the neck.
I take good care of my instruments and equipment but anymore, if something gets knocked out of perfectness I don’t sweat it. I’ve had enough things get ruined by kids and jackasses that it hardly effects me anymore.

 

[Mili]

How much do they bother you?

Very much!

Would it stop you buying a used bass if there's a nick you'll feel with your thumb every time you play?

Yes, especially in lower part.

Does your bass have any?

No.

 

[Thegrandwazoo]

As far as electric basses are concerned, I only play those with maple necks and (if they didn't come already like this, like my Music Man basses), I always strip and oil finish them. Minor dents and nicks bother me slightly, but in my case I just sand them out. Major ones can be steamed out sometimes, but if I was going to be forced to live with them I imagine it'd be a dealbreaker.

 

[Charlzm]

Hey guys

A question about nicks and dents on the back of the neck.
How much do they bother you? Would it stop you buying a used bass if there's a nick you'll feel with your thumb every time you play?
Does your bass have any? Does it bother you much or do you just get on with it?

Just curious...

My two favorite basses are both Dingwalls and they both have little dents in the neck at some point. Makes no difference to me.

 

[McFarlin]

Fretless legend Klaus Burgmüller recommends adding dents in lieu of visual markers.

Once during a retreat in a remote village outside Berchtesgaden, I watched him throw a loud, nearly violent tantrum until a weeping student finally used a tuning fork to strike three deep grooves along the neck of a probably $5K+ custom Verhauen.

 

[ROOTSnFIFTHS]

Sold any bass I discovered with neck chips, dents or bumps. Just drives me nuts.

 

[Bass V]

hate'm, but I'll buy despite any, they're fixable

 

[KeithAlanK]

A good friend gave me his 1991 Ibanez, and it had spent around 20 years gigging with no case or stand. The neck had maybe 30 deep dents and scratches that bothered me a lot because is was so perfect in every other way.
It wasn't braille, because it was too easy to mistake one dent for another 1 fret away. Everywhere my hand went, there was a new pattern of disaster. Once I noticed how bad it was, my OCD wouldn't let me think of anything else.

Most of it steamed out rather well, then various grits of sandpaper got it smooth. Finished it with Tru Oil, then matted that with 0000 steel wool. There's only one slight dent remaining, to remind me of it's past glories.
I LOVE this neck now--it's my avatar photo. Plan on building a new body for it someday.

My other favorite neck had some raised grain at the scarf joint, and it bothered me enough to sand it smooth because again it was perfect in every other way.